Time to see the sea

Today I went out for another day trip, this time east to the coastal city of Toulon. It was once the site of a famous prison (where even Jean Valjean was supposed to have been incarcerated) and is still the home of a large naval base and a bustling port on the Mediterranean.

After changing trains in Marseille I arrived in Toulon around noon, hoping to see as much of the city as I could in the short time I had before going back to Montpellier. I decided to start out by finding the office of tourism, hoping as was the case in Carcassonne that they would give me a map of the city, complete with places to go. The office was right on the harbour and they did have maps for tourists. So I started walking from there toward the naval base, where I found the Maritime Museum. Student admission was four euros, which isn't too bad, so I decided to check it out. The museum had lots of models of old ships and displays of the history of ocean travel, particularily in and around Toulon. It was apparently the site of an important naval battle during world war two, with many ships sinking and burning in the harbour. I found all the exhibits quite fascinating, but as the museum wasn't too big it didn't take me long to see it all and start moving along.

I walked past a few monuments and plazas, including the Place de la Libérté, a monument to fallen soldiers of the second world war, as well as the Place Victor Hugo, home of Toulon's theatre and named in honour of the famous author. By this time it was starting to rain, so I took shelter in a café and had lunch.

After the rain had let up a bit, I went toward the Porte d'Italie, an old gate of the city. I couldn't see much of the gate itself, however there was an art gallery nearby so I decided to look around there. Following the maritime nature of the city most of the paintings depicted the sea or boats, but were still quite lovely. After that the rain had started again, so I decided to look around the mall near the Palais de Neptune. Even though Toulon is smaller than Montpellier, it seems they have more exotic stores... But I'm not really one for shopping so I used the time just to enjoy the similarity within the differences. Okay, maybe that doesn't make much sense, but I find that when I see something that's so close to American culture (like a shopping mall?) it's much easier for me to notice the little differences that make it French. With something radically different, I know it's different, so details always seem to escape me.

The rain seemed to finally disappear, so I spent the rest of my time wandering along the harbour absorbing the sea breezes of the mediterranean - it was about 60° F with a light wind, so it felt wonderful. While walking back to the station, I took the time to admire the architecture and landscaping. Overall, it was quite the lovely outing!